


on a road that leads me straight to who knows where

by HearJessRoar



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, Underage Drinking, evie has things kicking around her head that she doesn't like, references to both canon and non canon pairings, unironic appreciation for doug's hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23749291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HearJessRoar/pseuds/HearJessRoar
Summary: Evie's hands had started to shake, and she had to put her teacup back on the coffee table so it didn't clink against her rings. It wouldn't be becoming of a lady to make such an undignified noise and show weakness.EQ watched her with an indecipherable look. Finally, she had sighed, reached forward, and patted her daughter's hand. "Evie, darling. You haven't done a single thing I asked you to do in Auradon."Or, her mother is living rent-free in Evie's head, even now.
Relationships: Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42





	on a road that leads me straight to who knows where

Watching Hades twirl his daughter around the dance floor, Evie couldn't help the pang in her chest. It felt like grief, sad and sour and heavy as it settled on her heart.

She'd never known her own father.

Looking up into the sky as it faded to dusk, she blinked back sudden tears. It wasn't the time for this. It never was. 

The cool summer breeze swept her hair around her shoulders like it was trying to comfort her. She sniffled.

Evie was happy for Mal. She _was_. But the bitter jealousy that simmered deep down in her being sometimes boiled over. To have one parent who loved her wholeheartedly was something she was envious of. Especially when they'd only just reconnected; Evie had spent her whole life trying to please her mother. Hades had accepted his daughter as she was, heroic tendencies and all.

These thoughts were ugly and unwelcome, but her visit with her mother had dredged up all sorts of muck from the bottom of her soul, and Evie felt gross.

It wasn't like her mom was as bad as Cruella, she'd reasoned with herself as they sprinted across the bridge. And even if she was, well. Carlos still looked excited to see _his_ mom.

Still, she was glad that they'd convinced Jane and Doug to stay put. She wasn't looking forward to their reactions when they saw the Isle for the first time. Ben's pitying glances had been bad enough. Jane would probably cry.

She was a tenderheart, Evie thought, watching Carlos spin a laughing Jane under his arm. _But she isn't weak_. If she cried looking at the Isle, it would be out of anger that her friends had lived such lives before she knew them.

She sighed, her arms crossed over her chest as the brick wall dug into her shoulder blades. This wasn't technically an official dance, but Jane had pulled together a lot in less than an hour to celebrate the barrier coming down. Between the snack table and the glimmering strings of lights above their heads, it was certainly impressive. They didn't have a proper DJ, of course. But a cell phone and some good quality speakers did the job pretty well all the same. 

Propping one gloved palm under her chin, Evie watched Harry try to worm his way back into Uma's good graces. She was stringing him along like bait to a fish, but Evie could see Uma smiling. It was nice. There weren't a whole lot of reasons to smile back home.

Her heart twisted. She thought she'd broken herself of thinking of the Isle as _home_ within the first few months of being in Auradon. It wasn't her home anymore. It didn't feel like it ever had been in the first place, but old habits died hard. And after that visit with her mom, well.

She swallowed around the tight, constricted feeling in her throat, shoving down the impending sobs before her chest could start heaving. She loved her mom. Evie just wished that her mom loved her, too. Loved her for who she was instead of the grand idea of Evie that had been stuck in the Evil Queen's mind since her daughter had been born.

She didn't have it as bad as Mal did with her mom, Evie had always told herself. Her mom never wanted her to _hurt_ people. Society could say what they wanted about the Evil Queen, but at least she learned from some of her mistakes. 

But being told over and over again, day in and day out, that her only purpose was to attract a man so they could live in comfort, that her own wants didn't matter so long as they were taken care of with someone else's money? That hurt. 

Sometimes Evie felt like her mother considered her a pawn to win an invisible chess match.

"You look lost in the woods."

Doug's voice startled her out of her thoughts, and Evie couldn't help the wide smile that stretched across her face. It was the one her mother had always told her was unrestrained and therefore unladylike, but Doug had insisted it was her most stunning look.

He was looking at her, holding two cups of punch. Someone, probably Ben, had taken away his hair tie again, and his hair was falling over his shoulders. Evie's heart thudded behind her ribs, and she pressed a hand to her chest as if to deaden the sound.

That was silly. It wasn't like Doug could hear her heartbeat from where he stood.

She hoped he couldn't, anyway.

He offered her one of the cups and she accepted, pressing a kiss to his cheek as he leaned on the wall next to her.

"I saw you come back, but you looked like you needed some space." He said, sipping at his punch. Evie put her lips to the rim of the cup but didn't drink. She hmm'd noncommittally. She hadn't seen him when they'd reentered to the flashing lights and loud music, so she'd stood with Carlos for awhile until Jane was done setting up the punchbowl. 

Maybe she hadn't looked hard enough for him, though. Her mother's disapproval was still too fresh in her head and she wanted to be angry about it for a minute without taking it out on Doug or on anyone else. That was why she had retreated to the furthest wall. Clearly he'd seen her mood from afar.

She brought the cup back down again. "Seeing my mom is always exhausting."

"Do you want to leave?"

Evie shook her head, giving him another smile. "If we leave, we can't dance. I'll be okay in a little while. Just need to breathe."

Doug accepted that, but he didn't look like he believed her. Evie didn't expect him to. His dad didn't talk, which meant that Doug was very good at reading people without them saying a word. Right now, she almost wished he wasn't.

She took a sip, just to have something to do, and almost recoiled. "Oh, that is spiked to death." Taking a second sip, and expecting the burn this time, Evie licked her bottom lip. "That's one of Harry's nasty rums."

"Thought it tasted worse than usual," Doug said lightly, drinking his own.

Evie hmm'd again, rolling the cup between her palms. "We used to drink out on the dock. Me, Mal, Uma, and Harry." She clarified. Doug raised an eyebrow but didn't interrupt her. Her eyes locked on her shoes, a wave of mild shame washing over her. "I never really wanted to, but there wasn't a whole lot else to do for entertainment. Steal something, maybe." Evie stared down into the sickly pink drink. "Mal and Uma were dating then, so Harry and I were kind of third wheeling."

If Doug was surprised, he didn't show it. "If this story ends with you kissing Harry, I don't know if I want to hear it," he snarked. Evie choked, and snorted into her punch.

"Oh god, _no._ " She laughed. "Haven't I told you? I never dated anyone on the Isle."

"You didn't tell me that."

Evie rolled her eyes. "I thought it was obvious, honestly. I'm not exactly subtle. You saw me strike out with Ben."

"You struck out with Ben because he only had eyes for Mal, don't be dopey."

"You don't be dopey," Evie shot back, feeling lame even as she said it. She stuck her tongue out at him while Doug laughed at her. 

She felt better, she realized. The heavy feeling on her heart wasn't exactly gone, but it felt lighter. Less elephant-sized. Maybe down to the weight of a big dog, and shrinking further with every minute.

Doug was still grinning at her, and Evie nearly dropped her punch in her haste to press her lips to his. He wrapped one arm around her waist to steady her and held the other far away so he didn't spill his drink down her back. She pulled away and leaned her forehead to his so she could see Doug's eyes when he opened them.

"What was that for?"

Evie shrugged, being careful not to dump her drink. She tugged playfully on the ends of his hair. "I love you."

She liked his hair like this. It had started out as one of Mal's jokes, spelling Doug with the hair spell that she'd learned and memorized when they first got to Auradon. But Doug hadn't hated it, and neither did Evie, and that took all the fun out of it for Mal. So she never fixed it. 

And because their friends were _terrible_ , it'd become a game to steal Doug's hair tie. Ben was in the lead with six stolen elastics, Mal right behind him at five. Carlos and Jay were tied at four, and Jane had refused to play. Evie technically was winning, but she'd never fess up in public to how many she'd slid out of his hair, so they'd disqualified her.

Even in the middle of Ben's proposal, the game kept going. Carlos had snuck up behind them, yoinked the elastic, _and_ Doug's hat for good measure.

Doug, for his part, never looked more than slightly bemused by their antics. If it bothered him, they would have stopped immediately. Of course, part of the fun was trying to get some sort of reaction out of a guy who was usually too used to their nonsense to shock. Evie herself would concede that. Doug put off a good air of being nearly unflappable, unless she was involved. When it came to her, Doug kind of tended to get motormouthed and nervous. It was sort of a thrill, being one of the few people who could make Doug unsteady.

Unfortunately, it was also one of the reasons she was so unsure if her kiss would work. He wasn't trying to keep his feelings for her closed off, she knew that. He was trying to keep from pushing her when she was uncomfortable. But that little seed of doubt had worked its way into her brain and stayed there, growing roots and refusing to budge.

She sighed again, cuddling up to him and tucking herself under his jaw. Somewhere between returning from the Isle and entering the party, she'd taken off her tiara hair comb, but she couldn't quite remember where she had left it. With Dizzy, maybe. She drank more punch, starting to feel a little buzzy. Doug switched his punch to the other hand so he could hold her better, swaying her gently to the beat of the music. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I freaked out. I wasn't sure if I could kiss you awake."

Doug shrugged, jostling her. "I know. It's okay."

Evie slapped weakly at him. "What do you mean, you know?"

"I could hear you."

"Oh god." Evie felt the blush rise to her cheeks. She hid her face in his throat. His pulse was pounding, she realized. And he smelled like soap. "I'm sorry, apology part two."

Her mother's voice was echoing somewhere in the back of her mind, scolding her about apologies and taking what she wanted. It was usually there anyway, but talking with her in person today seemed to have revitalized its presence in Evie's thoughts.

She had told her mom about Doug today, and her mother's reaction had been….confusing?

EQ had complimented her dress, and then told her she'd already known about her daughter's relationship. Her face had been stony, and not just because she didn't believe in emoting for fear of wrinkles.

Evie had forgotten about the tv coverage of Cotillion, when she had pulled Doug on the red carpet next to her and loudly proclaimed him to be Her Doug. It figured her mother had been watching.

Evie's hands had started to shake, and she had to put her teacup back on the coffee table so it didn't clink against her rings. It wouldn't be becoming of a lady to make such an undignified noise and show weakness.

EQ watched her with an indecipherable look. Finally, she had sighed, reached forward, and patted her daughter's hand. "Evie, darling. You haven't done a single thing I asked you to do in Auradon."

Evie had felt gut punched, and remembering it now hurt all over again.

Her mother had continued, "I think you could do much better, but." She paused, seeming to chew on her words. "If you like this boy, and he treats you like the royalty you are, then there isn't much I can say against him. And since you've decided that you like making your own money, I suppose I can't complain about him not having a castle if you've got one of your own."

Evie had deflated like a balloon. "Mom, _I love him._ " She said with emphasis, trying so hard to get the point across when her throat was burning and her legs felt like jelly. "I woke him up from the sleeping spell yesterday with True Love's Kiss."

That, her mother did not know, and the Evil Queen actually raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her smile was tight and strained. "Well. That's that then, isn't it." She patted Evie's hands again and leaned back in her chair. "Tell me more about this 'starter castle' of yours. Does it have a dungeon?"

Evie's depressing train of thought was interrupted once more as Jay bounded up to them, looking sweaty but happy. The neatly bound bun she'd done for him earlier was coming loose and dark tendrils of hair were falling around his face. He hadn't looked so buoyant since he made the tourney team.

"I just introduced Lonnie to Gil and they teamed up to kick my ass!" He said, out of breath. He pointed behind him, where sure enough, Lonnie was correcting Gil's footwork. Jay looked at them proudly as he leaned up against the wall, tugging at the lopsided bun. "I need a break," Jay complained, though he certainly didn't look grumpy. "I'm hiding here with you guys for a second."

Evie ducked out of Doug's arms, handing him her drink. She pulled off her gloves and reached out to pull the hairpins from Jay's ruined updo. "Are you gonna ask Gil out or not?" She asked bluntly around the pins she'd placed between her teeth for safe keeping, combing her fingers through the snarled locks. Her gloves kept getting in her way. She shoved them blindly behind her with her one free hand. Doug took them, their fingers brushing together as he balanced both drinks with his other hand.

Jay grinned at her. "I asked him to explore the world with me, so,"

Doug snickered and sang under his breath, " _I can show you the world…_ "

Evie giggled as Jay blanched. "Aw, crap. That's basically what I said to him. Nobody tell my dad." She deftly wove his hair into place, a tight braid against his scalp that looped into a low bun. She pushed at it lightly, making sure it would hold, then gave him a thumbs up.

Jay pulled her into a crushing one-armed side hug, then reached out to take one of the cups from Doug's hands, downing the whole thing in one gulp. His face twisted in revulsion. "Blergh. Someone tell Harry that there's better rum to steal over here. Tastes like antiseptic. And cherries," he added thoughtfully. He gave them a lazy wave and was gone, jogging back to Lonnie and Gil.

The lights had flickered and dimmed some time ago, powered by some combination of electricity and low grade fairy magic that Evie had never bothered to ask about. The brick courtyard was awash with hazy colors, and her head felt blurry.

She took the remaining cup out of Doug's hand. It had been hers originally, as evidenced by the smeared red lipstick imprint pressed to the side. Doug didn't seem to care much; he'd been drinking out of it anyway.

She sipped at it and passed it back to him. They spent the next few minutes trading the cup back and forth until it was empty, staring out at the couples still left on the floor. She placed the flimsy container on the floor by her feet, intending to throw it away later. At some point Doug must have drank off the lipstick side, because there was a bright red smudge on his bottom lip.

Her favorite shade was kiss-proof, not so much alcohol-proof.

Ha, proof. Like 80 proof. Like the rum in the punch. Evie pressed a hand to her cheek, feeling flushed. That punch worked fast.

Her lipstick was still on Doug's mouth. Evie reached out to wipe it away with her thumb, and over balanced in her dancing shoes. Doug caught her as she giggled. "This is a great shade on you," she said, swiping the color away and showing him her hand. Briefly, she wondered what he'd done with her gloves.

"I love you, too."

She locked her hands behind his neck as she swayed. "Hmm. That isn't what I said. I think." His hands were on her waist and she could feel him shaking.

"Earlier. I didn't tell you fast enough." 

"You'll make up for it," She teased him, delighted by the pink blush that bloomed across his nose. "Did I tell you the embarrassing thing I did?"

"Kissed a half-dwarf?"

Evie rolled her eyes. "No," and she pecked him on the mouth again to prove it. Or at least she tried to. Her aim was a little sideways and she caught the corner of his lips instead. Close enough. "Uma and Mal were fighting and no one was helping so I stepped in. Do you know what I did?"

"Tell me."

"Doug, I offered them gum." She said solemnly. 

Doug laughed so hard he almost dropped her.

The music picked back up again, the mellow mood of the evening broken by a pulsing beat. The bass was making Evie's head pound, but in a more pleasant way than it had been all day. The reverberations echoed in her chest as everyone who was left at this time of the night spilled back onto the dance floor, yelling and screaming with the kind of abandon that only came from youth. And maybe with a little bit of really bad cheap alcohol. 

She pulled away from him, grabbing for his hand. "I feel better. Dance with me."

This time, he believed her.

**Author's Note:**

> hey descendants fandom! ya'll make me nervous so i'm posting this at like 2 am. 
> 
> anyway too many people are mean to doug and i think he and his hair are neat.
> 
> please leave me a comment I'm in desperate need of some spare serotonin


End file.
